It Started With Quidditch
by vivi.lu
Summary: A two-shot in progress. Albus and Severus are unclear about their feelings with each other (It takes a grueling five-hour match, school beauty queen, and much stammering for understanding). But, as goes with most spectacular things: it started with Quidditch.


**A/N: There is not much information on the Next-Generation Era of Harry Potter, but I managed to make everything reasonable. It may not be accurate or relate to what you had thought about it.**

 **ON AMBIGUOUS INFO FOR THE NEXT-GEN:**

 **I wrote that Scorpius played Seeker based on the fact that his father, Draco Malfoy, also was a Seeker during his time at Hogwarts.**

 **In this fanfic Albus is a Chaser due to his fascination with the Brazilian Chaser Goncalo Flores at the 2014 Quidditch World Cup (credit: Harry Potter Wiki and Pottermore article by J.K. Rowling), his mother, Ginny Potter, being a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and because I made both Albus and Scorpius in the house of Slytherin. Because there can't be more than one Seeker on any team, Albus is a Chaser.**

 **Hugo Weasley plays the position of Keeper because Ron did.**

 **Rose Weasley was sorted into Ravenclaw because I like the idea of erasing House tensions and branching out, and because of the comments from Ron and Hermione in the epilogue of the _Deathly Hallows_.**

* * *

Scorpius made a sharp turn on his Firebolt Supreme, feeling the wind tousle his sleek, blond hair as he narrowly avoided a Bludger from the Gryffindor Beater, Violet McLaggen. His spotless green and silver Quidditch robes flowed behind him in the wind as he flew high above the pitch and searched for the elusive Snitch.

Albus Potter thought that it should have been illegal for someone to look that perfect while playing a brutal game of Quidditch, especially nearly five hours in.

This was the longest game Albus had played in all of his lifetime, and nearing how long the 427th Quidditch World Cup between Brazil and Bulgaria had taken. He was weary and his muscles were sore. His black hair was plastered to his forehead with perspiration and his robes had hints of red from a bloody nose and split knuckle.

He was about ready to pass out.

The score was 150-130, in favor of Gryffindor. Despite Albus' attempts to fly past the Bludgers, he was already bruised on almost every inch of his body and possibly had a fractured wrist. Sweat streamed from his face as he launched the Quaffle into the rightmost ring after feigning a throw at the left. The Keeper, Hugo Weasley, went for the feint but managed to bat the Quaffle away from a goal at the last moment.

Albus cursed and turned to the Chaser that had caught the falling Quaffle.

Cassie Johnson snagged the Quaffle as it was plummeting towards the ground and spun to the Slytherin goals. After deftly dodging Quidditch players and the Bludgers that circulated around, she swept from underneath and raised her hand to aim. The Quaffle was knocked away by a well-hit Bludger from Pucey, whose bat had hit the ball with a CRACK that resonated through the stadium.

Another Slytherin Chaser, Hailey Zabini, was speeding towards the goal. Albus vaguely recalled that he had snogged her before at a Slytherin party, when they were both inebriated from stolen firewhiskey and Rosmerta's mulled mead. Her black hair shone in the fading sunlight and her golden skin was glowing with exertion. She had been passed the Quaffle by Flint and had tucked in underneath her arm for aerodynamics.

"And it still looks like anybody's game!" Juliet Brown crowed happily from the announcer's area, her normally chirpy and annoying loud voice now magnified with a powerful _Sonorus_ charm. "The Quaffle is saved by Slytherin's Zabini… wow, she's really going for speed, isn't she?... She shoots and… scores with a curve to the right! Weasley seems pissed." Juliet observed. "Score is 150-140, with Ravenclaw leading by only ten points."

Albus, the Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, cocked his head and yelled loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Bulgaria formation!"

There were murmurs of confusion from the crowd, and a sound of disagreement from most of the Slytherin team.

Scorpius swooped down from above with an irritated expression, and hovered above Albus. "Potter! What the hell are you thinking?"

Albus' brilliant green eyes narrowed. "I've got a plan, Malfoy. Stick to your position and don't fuck it up."

"Is the plan to lose?" Malfoy asked, his eyes darting across the stadium.

"Yes, of course it is." Albus responded, lacing his voice with sarcasm. "Now get back to your post and catch the Snitch before we all die of exhaustion."

The blond Seeker stiffened and nodded reluctantly.

"Potter, heads up!" Zabini tossed the Quaffle in his direction. He was circled by Flint and Zabini in the formation they had set up, the one used if the team need to surge ahead if the outlook was bleak or if the Snitch hadn't been caught after a long period of time. He heard Flint shout a profanity, and a quick "Watch it, Potter!" as a Bludger cracked by where Albus' head had been only moments before.

"Ah, and McLaggen's Bludger misses Potter." Juliet sounded disappointed. "Weasley seems to be in the wrong position."

Indeed he was. His broom, a top of the line Firebolt Supreme like Albus' and Scorpius', was facing upward and he was hanging onto the stick for dear life. His normally fair skin looked pasty, and his eyes were wide.

Albus felt that a score made would be almost like cheating when the Keeper was in such bad position, but he reminded himself that he was no Gryffindor. Not like his entire family was - he had been so relieved to find that Rose was also an oddball, as she was sorted into Ravenclaw instead of the traditional red and gold.

He was glad that he hadn't been alienated after becoming a Slytherin. House prejudices were at their lowest since the Founders.

Albus caught Zabini's eye, and she winked at him. He zoomed to the middle and highest ring, where Weasley was currently fumbling, pretended to throw towards it, but instead passed the Quaffle to Hailey, who chucked a goal.

"A spectacular throw by Zabini makes a tie for our Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams, both here at 150." She was quiet for a pause, before suddenly yelling out. "It looks like Potter, sorry, James Potter from Gryffindor has seen the Snitch!"

Albus' older brother was the Gryffindor Seeker, like their father had been.

Scorpius had seen it too, and they were in a battle for the tiny golden ball that signified victory and reprieve from the grueling match. The two Seekers were gradually closing in. Red and green robes flapped, and their figures were mere blurs.

There was uproar in the audiences, bits of "GO POTTER! C'MON, GRYFFINDOR!" and equal amounts of "GET THE BLOODY THING, MALFOY!"

Albus flew by Pucey and muttered, "Distract James."

Mara Pucey hit a Bludger towards them, her perfect aim causing the Bludger to zero in on James.

"A Bludger from Pucey!" Juliet screeched. "And the winner of today's match is…"

Scorpius reached out, and with one extra push, wrapped his fingers around the struggling Snitch.

"SLYTHERIN! Final score is 300-150! This win puts Slytherin into first for the upcoming House Cup, and Gryffindor second."

Scorpius was exuberant. His face was lit up with a genuine, too-big smile that Albus loved instead of the common smirk. He turned to James and firmly and politely shook his hand. James looked disappointed but also happy, in a more tired fashion. Albus zoomed to them and the three landed as both houses flooded in from the bleachers and onto the field.

"Good job, mate," He could hear Scorpius say to James.

"Yeah, you too. Though my team is going to kill me for this… I've been training us into the ground for this game."

Scorpius laughed, and Albus nearly broke into a goofy grin from the sound of it. "Same with Albus."

Albus touched down on the grass, and fist-bumped Scorpius, who told him, "Told you that we didn't need Bulgaria,"

The Captain rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Still seemed to work out in the end." He turned to his brother, who was watching the two converse. "You're telling Mum and Dad that you lost."

James hid a smile, simply mounting his broom and flying towards his team in response.

Albus and Scorpius were overcome by a throng of green clad people, most yelling in excitement and clapping the two players on the back.

Hailey Zabini landed by Albus, and walked over to him. "Nice job on the last goal," He spoke with honesty.

She smiled and let out a flirty laugh. Scorpius looked uncomfortable.

Hailey faced Albus. Her Italian heritage showed, and she had the looks and confidence of a supermodel. Lightly tapping his arm, she said, "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Hogsmeade."

Scorpius' grin had vanished, and Albus began to inch away from Hailey.

She was certainly beautiful, a fantastic Chaser, the object of half of Hogwarts' wet dreams, and interested in Albus, but he couldn't find it in him to reciprocate the feelings. Even if those feelings were simply Hailey interested in sleeping with him.

He couldn't say yes, especially not with Scorpius standing right there, so close and so obviously listening to every word.

"Um," Albus stuttered.

"We don't have to go as friends." Hailey blatantly offered.

Scorpius' eyebrows shot up, and he started to cough violently.

Albus gulped. "I, um, can't."

She looked astonished by the rejection but not exactly offended. "Oh? And why not?"

"Because," He grasped at excuses. His go-to response when he felt guilty for turning down someone was Quidditch practice, but Hailey was on the team and knew the schedule. Albus didn't want to say that he wasn't interested - most likely Hailey would only believe that he was playing hard to get.

Because everyone in the school was in love with her. It wasn't that she slept around (though she had her fair share of flings and boyfriends, even a girlfriend or two), but she was like a magnet that pulled on everyone.

Hailey Zabini had never been turned down out of plain disinterest before.

She stood there, arms crossed and perfect eyebrows arched, before him. Her look was enough to prompt him to speak.

"Because," Albus began again. "I - I'm already going with Scorpius."

Scorpius' eyes shot to him, and both of their faces reddened.

Hailey leaned back on the soles of her feet. A devilish grin had overtaken her face. "So sorry," She said smoothly. "I didn't realize that you two were together."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "No, we're not - I mean," He looked at Albus. "Not like that."

She chuckled, her facade gone. Back was the tough, friendly-but-not-flirty Hailey Zabini that Albus truly liked. "Yeah, sure. See you!" Hailey grabbed her broom and sprinted away.

Albus let out a breath. "Scorpius, I'm so bloody sorry that I used you as an excuse. You probably already have plans for the Hogsmeade weekend. I'll tell Hailey that we canceled afterwards. And I'm sorry that I implied that we were gay."

Scorpius was staring at the ground.

"Scorpius?" He asked hesitantly.

The teenager looked up, his gray eyes piercing Albus' green ones. "You weren't wrong." He asserted in a strong voice, but Albus could see his hands were shaking.

"What?" Albus asked, momentarily shocked.

"I said, you weren't wrong."

"About…" His voice broke off. "Shit! I just revealed that - to Hailey fucking Zabini!"

Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck and let out a shaky laugh. "I'm bi. And, I would like to go to Hogsmeade."

"Right, yeah. Sorry about that. I can let Hailey know that we canceled or something." Albus' mind was spinning.

"No, I mean -" He looked to the sky. "I would like to Hogsmeade with you."

Everything stopped. Albus' heart was beating faster than it had during the game they had just played, and he knew that Scorpius had his heart in his throat. Scorpius looked up, and a lock of silvery-blond hair moved from his pale forehead. Albus' breath caught.

"I would like that, too." Albus admitted softly.

* * *

 **And there it is! My third one-shot - maybe I should actually write a _long_ story. This is my first Next-Gen fic, and I've written two other Marauders Era fics, so I have little experience.**

 **This one will most likely be a two-shot, because I have some ideas for their Hogsmeade date.**

 **As always, R &R! Thank you for reading!**

 **-vivi**


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